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Deal near to acquire site for new school BY MICHAEL PUFFER REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

@cutline attribution name: Republican-American archive The structural steel frame of a new vocational high school on Birch Street in Waterbury begins to take shape in late August. School officials are close to a deal to acquire an apartment building as part of the $63.8 million project.

WATERBURY — School officials are close to a deal to acquire an apartment building on Birch Street as part of an ongoing $63.8 million project to build a new vocational high school.

School officials care little for the four-unit building owned by Wilbert Galarza at 171 Birch St.. They want to add the quarter-acre lot on which it sits to a collection of properties claimed earlier for the construction of the new school.

The Board of Aldermen voted some time ago to allow the taking of various properties needed for the new technical high school's 14-acre grounds. That met with some resistance, however, and two properties were spared — Galarza's and a neighboring single-family home.

School Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff Paul Guidone said an agreement is close at hand, so school officials will once again seek the Board of Aldermen's authorization for an eminent domain taking of 171 Birch St. during a meeting on Monday.

Guidone said there are "legal" reasons why an eminent domain taking is preferable to a sale, although he said he could not explain them. An attempt to reach the attorney representing the city, Jean Perry Phillips, was unsuccessful Tuesday.

Guidone would not reveal the newly proposed price.

Galarza and other Birch Street property owners balked at prices insisted upon by the city in fall 2011. They were not offers. Owners were told they could take the money, or they could fight the takings in court and possibly end up with less. The depressed housing market had pushed appraisals and the city's offers so low that a forced sale would prove an economic hardship, owners said.

Initially, Waterbury insisted on paying $180,000 for Galarza's property. He bought it for $190,000 four years earlier.

In the end, city officials decided they could spare two properties not absolutely necessary for the new school. The city would remain open to negotiation, however.

Galarza said the city has upped it offer to something that won't bankrupt him. He'll be glad to end the fight, but isn't happy with what he considers rough treatment.

Having Galarza's property will make the building more appealing and allow for a better access road, Guidone said.

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